papaya and fish soup to increase breastmilk supply

Papayas are considered to be good for breast health in Traditional Chinese Medicine. One of my teachers told me it is because their shape looks like a healthy female breast. A traditional recipe from China to help increase breastmilk production is Papaya and Fish soup. There are regional / family variations, but here’s the version I use.

Heat a bit of oil up in a soup pot, sear ginger and fish, then add water, papaya flesh, and peanuts. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 2 hours. You don’t have to eat the solid bits (but you can if you like! I remove any bones and the ginger chunk, then blend it on low to break up the peanut pieces and soupify it). Drink about 1 cup twice per day, you can put leftovers in fridge but reboil the liquid every time you drink some.

Papayas are not cheap where I live. The rumor is that in the North American marketplace, 80% of the papaya are GMO. Since I’m interested in the 20% that isn’t, I paid $7.50 for one non-GMO papaya at my local grocer. And while it wasn’t quite as good as the ones you get when you’re actually in Hawaii, it was still pretty darn good. This recipe is delicious! And you know what? It actually did seem to increase my milk supply by about 1 oz each pump, starting about 3 days after I began my 5 day dose of soup. I’ll have to do more research.

What do you think? Have you heard papayas are good for breast health? Have you eaten it when trying to increase your breast milk? Comment below!

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The information in this blog is not intended to treat or diagnose any disease. If you live in the Vancouver area and want to discuss how Chinese Medicine can help your health & wellness, please call Yinstill at 604-873-9355 to arrange a complementary 15 minute phone consultation.